d, as the saying is, gone in at one ear and come out at the
other. It seemed as if she only understood the meaning of the word
"love," when she crouched in a corner of the chamber in the form of a
miserable frog; but the Viking's wife had listened to the mighty
history that was told throughout the lands, and had felt strangely
moved thereby.

On their return from their voyage, the men told of the splendid
temples, of their hewn stones, raised for the worship of Him whose
worship is love. Some massive vessels, made with cunning art, of gold,
had been brought home among the booty, and each one had a peculiar
fragrance; for they were incense vessels, which had been swung by
Christian priests before the altar.

In the deep cellars of the Viking's house the young priest had been
immured, his hands and feet bound with strips of bark. The Viking's
wife declared that he was beautiful as Bulder to behold, and his
misfortune touched her heart; but Helga declared that it would be
right to tie ropes to his heels, and fasten him to the tails of wild
oxen. And she exclaimed,

"Then I would let loose the dogs--hurrah! over the moor and across the
swamp! That would be a spectacle for the gods! And yet finer would it
be to follow him in his career."

But the Viking would not suffer him to die such a death: he purposed
to sacrifice the priest on the morrow, on the death-stone in the
grove, as a despiser and foe of the high gods.

For the first time a man was to be sacrificed here.

Helga begged, as a boon, that she might sprinkle the image of the god
and the assembled multitude with the blood of the priest. She
sharpened her glittering knife, and when one of the great savage dogs,
of whom a number were running about near the Viking's abode, ran by
her, she thrust the knife into his side, "merely to try its
sharpness," as she said. And the Viking's wife looked mournfully at
the wild, evil-disposed girl; and when night came on and the maiden
exchanged beauty of form for gentleness of soul, she spoke in eloquent
words to Helga of the sorrow that was deep in her heart.

The ugly frog, in its monstrous form, stood before her, and fixed its
brown eyes upon her face, listening to her words, and seeming to
comprehend them with human intelligence.

"Never, not even to my lord and husband, have I allowed my lips to
utter a word concerning the sufferings I have to undergo through
thee," said the Viking's wife; "my heart is full of woe con